We’re here and everyone is safe and sound.

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Gracie coliced last week, but appears to be doing well now. We found a local equine vet who is coming out to meet the herd on Friday, and will visit who we hope will be our new hay supplier tomorrow.

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Harriet has been the only one to bray since we arrived. I think everyone is still adjusting, but the herd seems to settle in a little more each day. I caught Nigel and Patrick playing “traffic cone” yesterday morning, which brought a smile to my face.

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Patrick

Gracie

Hello

♥ ♥ ♥

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Gracie

Harriet

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♥ ♥ ♥

Gracie’s nickname is Chewie. She sounds like Chewbacca at the beginning of her bray. 🙂

For the first time on Tuesday evening, Gracie let me rub her back until my arms got tired. After that, I figured last night was a good time to try taking things one step further by brushing her.

By Gracie, she got it!

Good girl, Gracie!

I talked to her the whole time and told her how beautiful she is:

And how proud of her we are:

I also had to explain to her that she’s now joining the ranks of those at Morning Bray Farm who love to be brushed.

Witness Patrick. He came over and backed right up so that I would brush his butt:

And lookee here. Buckaroo too:

And, as if all that wasn’t exciting enough, Don’s been working with Nigel on his feet:

It’s all for the love of donkeys! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Last week, CeeCee left the following comment for us:

“With 6 donkeys in the family now, could you do a little tutorial on identifying each one. Obviously, Ells is the only redhead, but I struggle to tell them apart in a group photo. I believe that Buck is red, but much darker. The rest leave me wondering.”

While she was here on Sunday, I asked our friend GK if she would help with the tutorial. She was able to point to the Boyz and Gracie and identify them each by name without batting an eyelash, after all. (I was so impressed!)

Here’s Buck and Nigel:

Buck is definitely red, and is darker than Ellsworth.

Ellsworth is bigger than Buck and his face is much whiter:

Nigel is also unmistakable:

Such a strikingly handsome boy.

And here’s Bernard:

Bernard is short and has shorter hair. Most of the time, Bernard will be next to Ellsworth.

Patrick, however:

Patrick is fluffy all over; his body, face, legs, ears. He has the longest mane of all, and has very cute leg stripes:

By the way, I have to say that it really, really touched me when (out of the blue) GK said she was so happy that Patrick was here at Morning Bray Farm. She’s a young lady who’s so wise for her years.

From a distance, I still sometimes confuse Gracie and Bernard. Here’s Gracie and Buck:

Look at Gracie with GK:

GK was right when she pointed out that Gracie’s nose is more wrinkled than Bernard’s:

Gracie’s taller than Bernard and Patrick too:

It’s all relative. Sometimes, it just takes time to see who’s who. ♥ ♥

I’m sure you know by now that we watch the daily lineup with great interest and much fascination.

Now that Gracie  Snow White has started joining the lineup, she’s changing things up a bit.

Gracie: Yes, dahlings. It’s a girl’s prerogative to rearrange boys.

Gracie: All grey donkeys to the south, facing south, please.

Gracie: All non-grey donkeys to the north, facing north. Thank you, Boyz.

Patrick: Honest, mama, we’re just doing what she told us to.